The 20 worst A-Braves pitchers: #16 Don Collins

It says something about my Braves geekdom that I remember Don Collins, one of many terrible relievers who toiled for the ’77 Braves. Expect at least two more pitchers from that team, which finished with a league-worst 4.85 ERA, to make our list in addition to Collins and Preston Hanna, #18.

What separates him from those who won’t — Steve Hargan, Bob Johnson, Duane Theiss — is workload. Collins pitched in 40 games, starting 6. He didn’t make it past the third inning in half of those starts. In 70 IP, the soft-tossing southpaw walked 41, allowed 82 hits and struck out just 27. That’s a 1.741 WHIP.

Collins was drafted by three other teams before finally signing with Atlanta in 1972. So the Braves weren’t the only team that vastly overestimated Collins’ potential.